


Ordinary Day

by Morning_Glory



Series: Well I Guess This Is Growing Up [4]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Coming Out, Fluff and Humor, Gen, Other, Trope Bingo Round 3
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-05-18
Updated: 2014-05-18
Packaged: 2018-01-25 13:55:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,600
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1651058
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Morning_Glory/pseuds/Morning_Glory
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Darcy and Clint bond over a secret.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Ordinary Day

**Author's Note:**

> An out-take from the Growing Up 'verse, set during the high school years.
> 
> As always, all mistakes are mine, all characters are not.

The party is, of course, Tony’s suggestion.

Not that anyone was going to complain about it; Tony’s parties are legendary. And what better way to welcome the last of Bruce’s chosen brothers into the fold than to throw him into the deep end of their weird little group and see how he holds up.

Darcy watches from her claimed spot on the porch, sprawled out on the swing and sipping her lemonade as everyone but Tony and Thor -who are too busy fighting over control of the barbeque- makes use of the pool. The splashing and shrieks of laughter are almost relaxing.

Cool hands lift her legs out of the way and Darcy wrinkles her nose at the chlorine smell as Clint drops into the seat next to her. He pulls her legs into his lap and sets the swing rocking again, controlling the speed with his own feet on the ground.

“How are you not dying?” he asks, eyeing her long sleeves with a frown. Darcy takes a sip of her drink, making sure to rattle the ice in her glass before pointing up at the vent pumping cold air straight down on them. Clint rolls his eyes as he mutters something unflattering about people with money that makes her laugh. “So what, you’re just gonna be antisocial over here the whole time?”

“Pool time isn’t really my thing,” Darcy shrugs, resisting the urge to tug on her shirt. She knows the scars are covered, and the last thing she wants is to draw attention. Or worse, make him think she’s hiding something. “But I will own your ass later at poker.”

“Thems fightin’ words, girly,” Clint laughs as Darcy flicks a dismissive wave at him and he steals her drink in retaliation. They have an easy friendship, oddly close for how short a time they’ve known each other. Even the little misstep with the kiss wasn’t enough to throw them off for long. Darcy snickers as Clint shifts his focus and waves wildly, making the swing shake sideways in his enthusiasm. “Well, look who finally showed up. Steve!”

Darcy stops laughing quickly when she gets her first real look at him. Handsome, blonde, and big enough to have a fighting chance against Thor, with just enough adorably awkward fidgeting to offset his perfect everything else. She can only hope she’s not embarrassing herself as Clint introduces her to Steve and his girlfriend, Peggy, the gorgeous brunette with serious poise and confidence to envy. Darcy’s suddenly glad for the heat of the day that hides her blush some, even if she is a little tongue-tied at the moment. They don’t hang around for long, pulled away by Bucky yelling for them from across the yard.

“You still breathing?” Clint pokes her leg to get her attention and she’s far too aware of how wide her eyes are as she turns to him.

“Did Bruce make him in a lab? ‘Cause I’m sorry, but that guy _cannot_ be real.” It startles a snort of laughter out of Clint and he chokes on his drink. Darcy sits up and rubs his back until he finishes coughing and he pouts at her. “Come on, Clint, spill. How the hell did you guys pull an actual Disney prince out of the movies?”

“Oh, you gotta let me tell him that,” Clint drops his head back, closing his eyes as he laughs. The sound is infectious and Darcy joins in as she gives her approval, conditional on his getting a picture of the reaction. She shifts around in the seat until his arm is around her and her head rests on his shoulder, with her legs still across his lap. He nudges her gently. “You handled that better than I expected. There’s usually swooning. But I guess you do prefer your men with dark hair, don’t you?”

“I prefer my partners _single_ , actually.” Darcy snorts at the teasing, poking Clint in the ribs to make him squirm. And he tries to deny it when she points it out, but there was also giggling, which she finds beyond adorable.

“Oddly specific way to put that,” he tilts his head so he can look at her out of the corner of his eye. Darcy rolls her eyes, but takes the bait.

“Oddly presumptuous of _you_ to assume I prefer _men_ ,” she waits for the possible meanings of that to register with him. She’s not really worried about how he’ll react. She’s sure that she’s read him right. Clint stares out over the yard, eyes flicking over their friends and his lips twist into that slow grin of his that always means trouble.

“Dark-haired men and gorgeous redheads,” it’s not a question but a confident observation, and Darcy can’t help but laugh.

“Speaking from experience?” she tightens her arms around his waist, wordless gratitude for accepting it so easily. She knows not everyone would.

“Nah, that’s not the way I swing,” Clint returns the hug easily. She knew she could trust him. “But I can appreciate the aesthetics. You?”

“I’m less picky about the wrapping as what’s inside,” Darcy pauses as she looks out at her friends. She makes a thoughtful sound that has Clint turning to her again and she drags her nails teasingly over his abs. She feels the muscles twitch beneath her fingers as she gives him an exaggerated leer. “But I do have a healthy, if shallow, appreciation at being surrounded by so much quality eye candy.”

She cackles when he turns bright red and squirms, but he recovers quickly, shifting his arm to get her in a careful headlock as his other hand wraps around her wrist. His voice is a little rougher than normal as he mutters into her hair.

“Unless you’ve changed your mind about the whole _just friends_ thing, you should probably try not to do things like that. It’ll save us both some embarrassment.” It takes a second for it to click, but when it does, Darcy giggles her way through an apology. Clint sighs as he releases her, but doesn’t comment on it when she just snuggles back against him. They sit quietly for a while before he breaks the silence.

“I know people years older than you who aren’t comfortable sharing things like that about themselves. But here you are, barely out of the nursery--”

“Only a year younger than you,” Darcy gives him a whack that’s hard enough to make him yelp.

“ _Practically a baby_ ,” he grins and keeps talking like she didn’t interrupt. “And here you are, sharing with someone you barely know.”

“It’s different with you,” she explains softly, thinking about how quickly they took to each other. They’ve known each other less than a month, and he’s already the best friend she’s ever had. She can’t help but tease him about being her soul mate, if only platonically, and the smile she gets in return is so warm, so _happy_ , that she gives in and stretches up to press her lips to his cheek. She doesn’t know if it’s the show of affection, or the unexpected wolf-whistle from Tony that makes him blush, but it’s cute, and she makes a promise to herself to see that it happens more often-- both the blushing and the genuine smiles.

“Never would have thought Bruce’s Baby Brother would be my BFF,” Darcy muses, allowing herself a tiny smirk as Clint rolls his eyes at the moniker. It serves him right for the nursery comment. And it doesn’t stop him from pulling her close again. “You know, you’re the first I’ve ever told.”

“Well, I’m glad,” the response is just as quiet, almost lost under the sudden yell as Peggy shoves Bucky into the pool. Laughter rings out over the yard as Bucky comes up swearing. They watch as Natasha waits for the perfect moment, just as he’s dragging himself out of the water, to launch a soccer ball at him. Trying to dodge it tips him off balance and Bucky falls back in with another yell as Clint and Darcy agree that they have awesome friends.

“What?” she can feel Clint staring at her, but keeps watching the drama at the pool as Steve tries to get Bruce to stop hiding behind Pepper and get involved.

“Just wondering if this is the part where it gets weird,” Clint's fingers dance a pattern along her side, just enough pressure for her to feel it through her shirt, but not enough to make her squirm. She looks up at that, not understanding what he means, and laughs when he elaborates. “You know, ‘cause we’re both hot for the same girl?”

“Oh, don’t even start,” poking Clint repeatedly as he giggles - _you are too giggling, Clint. Stop denying it_ \- until he grabs her hand to stop her seems like a good retaliation for even joking about that. When they’ve both calmed down a bit, she can’t help sharing the thought that just crossed her mind. “How pathetic does this make us?”

“I blame puberty. It’s the hormones,” Darcy loses it at the way he nods and how calmly he says it, but keeping a straight face has got to be a struggle because he manages for only a few seconds before he cracks. The laughing doesn’t stop until Natasha runs past them with Bucky close on her heels. “They do make a hell of a picture together.”

“You heard how I met him, right?” Clint shakes his head and Darcy bites her lip to fight a grin. She tells him the story and he laughs himself to tears.

**Author's Note:**

> I may do more of these little out-takes as time and inspiration permits, and I can always be found at [my tumblr](http://silvermorningglory.tumblr.com/)


End file.
